"They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me."
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Jesus,
who utilized only three years out of His 33 years of life in this world ,
chose just twelve ordinary and uneducated men,
out of whom one dropped out even during His lifetime,
bringing down the number to eleven,
to spread His word throughout the world.
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Our Holy Mother the Church started with just eleven uneducated persons at the helm.
But the starter is God, with unlimited wisdom.
Of course Jesus had given them training for three years, but the training was not complete.
It was to be an ongoing process, to continue till their last breath.
"I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to befriend you, one who is to dwell continually with you for ever."
(John.14:16)
"And behold I am with you all through the days that are coming, until the consummation of the world."
(Matthew. 28:20)
Jesus promised to be with them always till the end of the world to be of help to them in their evangelical work.
He also promised to send them the Holy Spirit to dwell with them constantly.
So one thing is clear:
the evangelical work of the Apostles was successful
not merely because of their effort,
but because of God being with them.
It was because the Holy Spirit was with the Apostles
that they were able to carry on their evangelisation
in the midst of so many sufferings they had to meet with.
it is estimated that there are close to 1.3 billion Catholics in the world.
How was it possible for eleven to become 1.3 billion?
At the beginning,
they didn’t have anything written down yet –
no instruction manual to follow.
But they simply lived Christ.
According to
Acts 2:42-47,
“They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles
and to the communal life,
to the breaking of the bread
and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favour with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”
What is mentioned in the above verse was possible only because of the presence of Holy Spirit with them
and because of the 'breaking of bread' ,
that is,
the sacrifice of Holy Mass,
which maintained the real presence of Jesus in their midst.
Not only that, disciples multiplied into disciples, not merely followers.
Followers merely follow the life style of the teacher,
but disciples voluntarily take upon themselves the duty of
not only following the life style of the teacher
but also spreading the same among others.
The Church continued to grow,
as we know from Acts,
and more disciples were added.
One important cause for the growth of Christianity was
the sufferings and persecutions
that the Christians underwent
with a smiling face for the sake of Christ.
During the persecutions
the disciples of Christ
happily offered themselves to be imprisoned,
beaten,
and even killed for their belief in Christ.
Of the original Apostles,
John was the only one who didn't die a martyr’s death.
The same thing continues even in modern times.
According to a report from a January 2017 issue of The Christian Post,
over 900,000 Christians have been martyred in the last 10 years.
In 2016 alone, it was estimated that
a Christian was being killed every six minutes.
In another report,
put out by Christianity Today,
close to 70 million Christians have been martyred.
When we happen to be persecuted
we have to remember Christ’s message in John 16:33.
“In the world you will have trouble,
but take courage. I have conquered the world.”
And we should also be encouraged by St. Paul's words
“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”
(Acts 14:22)
We must remember that we don't struggle alone.
The early disciples did 2,000 years ago,
and we do today.
By 'we' I refer to the 'dedicated' Christians all over the world.
I stress the word 'dedicated',
because, there are many 'born Christians',
who are Christians just because they were born so.
Only those who live a Christian life are dedicated Christians.
Dedicated Christians are those
who live according to Christian values
solely for the service of God
and their neighbours.
It is not enough that we come together at Mass;
we must support one another,
we must pray and care for each other;
and we must submit ourselves daily to Christ and Christ alone.
Now we are to ask ourselves one simple question,
"Are we dedicated Christians or merely born Christians?"
Throughout the history of our Church
dedicated Christians have only suffered.
"They will forbid you the synagogue; nay, the time is coming when anyone who puts you to death will claim that he is performing an act of worship to God."
'' If the world hates you, be sure that it hated me before it learned to hate you"
"They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me."
"Brothers will be given up to execution by their brothers, and children by their fathers; children will rise up against their parents and will compass their deaths,22 and you will be hated by all men because you bear my name; that man will be saved, who endures to the last."
"all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; but that man will be saved, who endures to the last."
"In those days, men will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name;"
Jesus Himself has foretold that
His disciples will suffer in the hands of the persecutors
because they are His disciples.
"Blessed are you, when men revile you, and persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you falsely, because of me. 12 Be glad and light-hearted, for a rich reward awaits you in heaven"
Jesus does not ask His disciples to fight against their persecutors.
Neither does He advise them to fight for their rights.
But He says
that we are blessed when we are persecuted because we are His disciples,
and that we must be happy as a reward awaits for us in heaven.
"They will persecute you just as they have persecuted me."
These words of Jesus seem to be telling us
that being persecuted is in fact the identity
for being a real Christian.
Can we imagine Christ without a cross?
Is it not by the cross at the top that a Church is identified?
So are we.
We will be identified as true Christians
by our sufferings for Christ,
who suffered for us.
The present political atmosphere inspired me to write this article.
Lourdu Selvam.
